IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


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mm 

1.4    ill  1.6 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


G'x 


Q- 


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vV 


CIHM/ICMH 
Microfiche 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
thu  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


\1 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


~~/i   Covers  damaged/ 

v_J    Couverture  endommagde 


n 


□ 
n 

D 
D 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculde 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


D 


Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmdes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires: 


T 
t( 


L'Institut  a  microfilmd  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mdthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 


n    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul6es 

I    ~]^  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
\Jl\    Pages  ddcolordes,  tachet6es  ou  piqu6es 

□Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tachdes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualit6  indgale  de  I'lmpression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


7 
P 

0 

fi 


C 

b 

tl 
s 

0 

fi 

s 

0 


I      I    Showthrough/ 

I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


D 
D 


7 
s 

7 

V 

^ 

d 

e 
b 
ri 
r< 
n 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  film^es  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


I     Y  T^is  \XBm  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

\—z\    Ce  document  est  film^  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

21K 

26X 

30X 

4 

12X 


Www 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Is 

u 

ifier 

fie 

ige 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exemplaire  film6  f ut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6ndrosit6  de: 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —►(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  o»     illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  ^ui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6ricur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


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F£^OIv^    THE 

BUFFALO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


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NATIONAL  LIBRARY 
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PAPERS 


CONCERNING 


EARLY   NAVIGATION 


GREAT  LAKES. 


I.        RpXJOLLECTIONS  OF  CaI'T.    DaVID   WiLKESON. 

II.    The  Pioneer  Lake  Erie  Steamboats,  Walk- 
tn-t he-water  and  Stiperior. 


BY  WILLIAM   HODGE. 


n  U  F  F  A  L  O  : 

Pkinting  House  of  Higelow  Brothers, 

Pearl  and  Skneca  Sts. 

1883. 


f 


INTRODUCTION 


At  the  desire  of  the  venerable  writer  of  the  following  remin- 
iscences, I  have  undertaken  to  superintend  their  publication. 
In  the  main,  the  order  and  form  of  the  memoranda  here  col- 
lected, are  preserved,  as  in  the  author's  manuscript.  They  are 
not  presented  as  a  product  of  literary  art,  nor  are  they  given 
forth  as  deserving  to  be  ranked  with  "  works  "  of  biography 
and  history.  They  furnish  merely  a  simple  and  unpretending 
contribution  of  material  for  these. 

And  it  may  be  that  what  they  afford  by  way  of  knowledge 
concerning  the  specific  subjects  treated, — the  navigator  and 
the  steamboats, — does  not  constitute  all  their  value.  Much, 
making  them  more  widely  useful  is,  probably,  to  be  found  in 
the  glimpses  they  give  us  of  the  days  gone  by;  the  forming 
times  ot  that  great  commercial  highway,  in  the  midst  of  which 
Buffalo,  as  a  chief  depot  of  transfer,  has  so  long  stood 
preeminent. 

These  memorial  jottings  should,  therefore,  be  read  remem- 
bering that  things  in  themselves  trivial,  taken  alone,  may,  if 
viewed  in  their  relations,  and  considered  not  in  a  critical  but 
in  a  meditative  and  receptive  manner,  become  interesting  and 
instructive.  A.  B. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


CAPTAIN  DAVID  WILKESON. 


The  greater  part  of  what  I  have  here  written  concerning 
Captain  David  Wilkeson,  the  subject  of  this  paper,  is  from  my 
own  personal  knowledge,  and  was,  in  fact,  committed  to  paper 
many  years  before  the  Captain's  death.  To  prepare  the  way 
for  these  "Recollections,"  I  give  here,  first,  a  brief  statement 
of  the  leading  facts  of  his  life,  to  be  followed  by  the  more  par- 
ticular relation  of  incidents  which  I  intend  to  present. 

He  was  born  in  the  year  1800,  but  of  the  place  of  his  birth 
I  am  not  informed.  Nor  do  I  know  anything  concerning  his 
childhood.  But  in  1815  he  was  a  "hand"  on  board  the 
schooner  Black  Snake,  of  about  twenty-five  tons  burthen, 
under  Captain  James  Wilkeson,  an  uncle.  In  18 17,  when  only 
seventeen  years  of  age,  he  was  promoted  to  the  command  of 
the  Black  Snake.  The  next  year,  181 8,  he  became  captain  of 
the  schooner  Pilot,  making  trips  between  Maumee  river  and 
Buffalo.  From  this  time  he  was  in  command  of  various  sailing 
vessels  (among  them  the  Eagle  of  ninety  tons  burthen,  which 
will  be  often  mentioned  in  these  "Recollections"),  until  1835. 
Meanwhile,  he  had  (soon,  indeed,  after  the  war  of  1812-15) 
made  Perrysburg,  Ohio,  his  home,  and  he  maintained  his  resi- 
dence there  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

In  1835,  he  took  command  of  the  steamboat  Commodore 
Perry,  of  which  he  was  captain  and  part  owner  for  ten  years. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


He  then  became  commander  of  the  steamboat  Superior,  which 
position  he  held  till  1852,  when  he  retired  at  fifty-two  years  of 
age  from  sailor-life.  From  that  time  till  his  death,  twenty-one 
years  later,  September  8th,  1873,  his  life  was  spent  in  culti- 
vating his  farm,  and  in  the  care  of  the  light-house  in  Maumee 
Hay,  near  Manhattan,  Ohio. 

My  acquaintance  with  Captain  David  Wilkeson  dates  from 
about  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-15,  when  as  a  very  young 
man,  he  used  to  come  to  my  father's  tavern,  and  my  grand- 
father's house  near  by,  in  Buffalo.  From  that  time  until  he 
finally  gave  up  sailing  in  1852,  and  remained  ashore  at  his 
home  in  Perrysburg,  Ohio,  he  was  a  constant  visitor  at  our 
house,  seldom  failing  to  come  out  to  see  us  when  he  made  our 
port. 

I  also  at  times  took  various  trips  with  him,  both  on  his  sail 
and  steam  vessels,  and  consequently  knew  him  well. 

Captain  Wilkeson  was  a  practical  sailor.  In  his  time  he  was 
not  excelled  by  any  one  on  our  lakes.  He  was  energetic  and 
persevering,  and  rarely  failed  to  accomplish  whatever  he  un- 
dertook in  his  line  of  business.  Brought  up  in  the  hard  school 
of  poverty,  and  compelled  at  an  early  age  to  depend  upon 
himself  for  advancement  in  life,  and  for  his  very  livelihood,  in 
fact,  he  was  equal  to  the  necessities  of  his  condition  and 
became  a  man  noted  in  his  chosen  profession  throughout  the 
lakes. 

He  was  self-reliant  but  not  to  obstinacy,  venturesome  but 
not  to  foolhardiness;  possessing  in  fact  all  the  qualities  which 
together  make  up  the  true  sailor  and  man. 

As  master  of  a  vessel  his  invariable  rule  was  to  discharge 
his  freight  as  soon  as  possible  after  his  arrival  in  port,  ship  his 
return  load  at  once,  and  be  ready  to  start  with  the  first  fair 
wind.  In  the  summer  time  he  would  get  out  into  the  lake  as 
best  he  could,  beat  his  way  up  in  the  day  time,  and  at  night 
hug  the  American  or  south  shore,  to  catch  the  land  breeze. 
He  told  me  that  by  this  method  of  being  ready  he  made  full 


•  •  •  •  . 


IT  0  «         •  4     ,    „        o      « 

•    •     •      0,    ?       r  f  »     •  "  « 


CAPT.  DAVID  WILKESON. 


trips  when  in  command  of  the  Entitle,  a  vessel  of  ninety  tons 
(one  of  a  hundred  tons  being  at  that  time  considered  a  good- 
sized  craft),  while  other  vessels  would  be  lying  in  the  harbor. 

He  also  told  me  that  he  had  run  with  his  vessel  three  times 
tlie  length  of  Lake  Erie  in  eight  days,  carrying  a  full  load  each 
way;  and  this  when  all  loading  and  unloading  was  done  entirely 
by  hand. 

Late  in  the  month  of  November,   1833,  westerly  winds  had 
prevailed  at  this  end  of  the  lake  for  about  a  week.     Buffalo 
Creek  had  become  quite  filled  with  sail  vessels, — so  much  so, 
in  fact,  that  there  was  but  a  narrow  passage-way  left,  only 
wide  enough  to  allow  one  vessel  to  pass  up  and  down  the 
channel.     Captain  Wilkeson's  sciiooner,  the  Eagle,  was  one  of 
the  thirty  or  more  thus  in  waiting.     Ti.e  docks  along  the  creek 
at  this  time  were  not  very  extensive,—  nearly  or  quite  all  lying 
below  the  foot  of  Main  street.     One  night  there  came  a  heavy 
fall  of  snow,  fully  a  foot  in  depth,  and  during  the  latter  part 
of  that  night  the  wind  veered  around  to  the  east.     I  was  to  take 
passage  on  the  Eagle  for  Perrysburg,  and  early  that  morning 
Captain  Wilkeson  kindly  sent  a  sailor  out  to  my  father's  house 
(about  three  miles),  to  notify  me  that  the  vessel  was  ready  to 
start,  and  was  only  waiting  for  me.     I  immediately  rode  down 
to  the  dock  in  a  sleigh  and  went  aboard.     The  Eagle  was  then 
quickly  gotten  under  way.     Most  of  the  vessels  that  had  been 
in  the  harbor  were  already  off  in  the  lake-,  and  some  were  ouc 
of  sight.     We  were  soon  beyond  the  pier  (the  original  one, — 
our  outer  pier  had  not  yet  been  built).     When  fairly  in  the 
lake,  with  all  sails  set,  for  the  wind  was  favorable  though  light. 
Captain  Wilkeson  directed  the  men  to  try  the  pumps,  and  to 
his  great  surprise  found  water  in  the  hold.     He  therefore  con- 
cluded to  lay  his  course  for  Dunkirk,  and  kept  the  pumps 
going.     He  soon  found  that  the  vessel  took  in  water  when  on 
one  tack,  but  not  when  on  the  other.     He  then  ordered  the 
mate,  Frank  Bushaw,  to  lower  the  small  boat  and  examine  the 
vessel's  sides.     While  he  was  doing  so,  I  leaned  over  the  port 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


railing,  and  discovered  a  hole  near  the  water's  edge  which  had 
evidently  been  made  by  the  fluke  of  an  anchor  while  we  were 
in  the  jam  of  vessels  in  the  harbor.  The  Captain  then  gave 
orders  to  "  about  ship"  and  return, — it  taking  some  time  to 
reach  the  Buffalo  dock.  A  carpenter  was  sent  for,  who  repaired 
the  broken  plank.  We  then  again  set  forth  and  once  more 
were  in  the  lake.  It  was  now  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  most  of  the  vessels  were  out  of  sight.  Night  set  in,  the 
light  breeze  continuing  all  night  and  the  next  day,  and  until 
almost  one  o'clock  the  following  morning,  when  it  shifted  to 
the  west,  and  blew  a  gale.  The  mate  who  had  charge  of  the 
deck  called  to  the  Captain  who  was  below,  and  wanted  to  know 
what  he  should  do,  as  he  could  make  no  headway.  The  Cap- 
tain turned  out  in  a  moment,  and  stopping  halfway  up  t!.e  com- 
panion-way, asked  what  was  the  vessel's  position.  Being  told 
about  how  far  we  were  above  Cleveland,  he  then  asked,  "  Can 
you  make  the  leeof  the  islands  by  laying  your  course  across  the 
lake?"  The  mate  replied,  "I  dont  know."  The  Captain  told 
him  to  "try  it."  He  did  so;  and  in  the  morning,  just  at  day- 
light, we  got  under  the  lee  of  Cunningham's  Island,  now  called 
Kelley's  Island.  I  had  been  lying  still  in  my  berth,  wide 
awake,  all  this  time,  as  the  vessel  had  tossed  very  much;  but 
about  daylight  beginning  to  feel  sea-sick,  I  concluded  to  go 
on  deck  and  take  the  air.  I  did  so,  but  the  effort  was  too 
much,  I  was  compelled  to  go  to  the  rail.  I  hung  on  with  both 
hands,  and  aiter  a  few  heaves  and  surges,  both  the  vessel  and 
myself  felt  easier,  as  we  soon  got  into  still  water. 

We  continued  our  course  without  stopping,  until  we  arrived 
at  Swan  Creek,  now  Toledo.  After  discnarging  part  of  our 
cargo  at  the  warehouse  there,  we  sailed  up  the  Maumee  river 
to  Perrysburg.  i 

In  consequence  of  this  terrible  gale,  the  Eagle,  though  the 
last  of  all  that  fleet  of  vessels  to  leave  port,  and  notwithstanding 
the  delay  on  account  of  the  leak,  was  the  first  to  reach  her 
intended  destination,  while  many  of  those  vessels  were  driven 


CAPT.  DAVID   WILKESON. 


on  shore, — the  Guerriere,  which  was  also  owned  by  Captain 
Wilkeson,  being  of  this  number;  and  several  were  totally 
wrecked.  • 

Before  canals  and  railroads  came  into  general  use,  Perrys- 
burg  was  expected  to  become  the  great  business  and  shipping 
point  at  the  head  of  Lake  ITrie,  The  place  which  was  then 
known  as  Toledo  was  so  marshy,  and  consequently  so  un- 
healthy, that  people  could  not  stay  there  and  live.  Swan  Creek, 
a  little  above,  was  but  little  better.  Port  Lawrence,  Vistula  and 
Manhattan  were  hardly  known  then  but  in  name,  all  lying  below 
Swan  Creek.  Perrysburg  and  Maumee  (nearly  opposite)  were 
ten  miles  up  the  Maumee  river  at  the  head  of  ship  navigation, 
and  therefore  were  thought  to  have  great  advantages  not  pos- 
sessed by  any  of  those  places  lower  down.  At  this  time  com- 
merce on  our  lakes  was  flourishing.  The  sail  vessels,  as  a 
general  rule,  carried  the  furs,  grain  and  produce  from  the  west, 
and  received  a  fair  compensation,  while  the  steamboats  carried 
the  passengers.  Captain  Wilkeson  having  settled  in  Perrys- 
burg, took  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  place,  and 
of  its  inhabitants.  He  was  notably  most  generous  and  kind 
towards  the  poor  families  that  settled  in  the  town.  He  gen- 
erally refused  to  dispose  of  his  spare  produce  (for  he  did  some 
farming,)  to  those  who  would  pay  him  cash,  but  reserved  it  for 
the  poor,  trusting  them  until  they  were  able  to  pay.  He  was 
truly  the  poor  man's  friend.  He  was  ever  ready  to  help  the 
industrious  and  those  who  were  trying  to  help  themselves,  and 
thus  he  contributed  to  the  welfare  and  thrift  of  Perrysburg 
and  vicinity  by  causing  the  settlement  there  of  many  industri- 
ous families. 

Captain  Wilkeson  was  always  well  liked  by  those  who  served 
under  him  It  is  true  that  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  he 
compelled  and  exacted  implicit  and  prompt  obedience  to  his 
commands;  and,  if  everything  was  not  done  in  exact  accord- 
ance with  his  orders,  did  not  hesitate  to  pour  out  upon  the 
head  of  the  offender  the  vials  of  his  wrath  in  terms  more  em- 


lO 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


phatic  than  elegant.  Still,  he  was  always  willing  to  help  those 
in  his  employ  in  their  troubles,  and  endeared  himself  to  them 
by  his  many  and  constant  acts  of  kindness. 

During  our  first  cholera  season,  in  1832,  when  this  dread 
disease  raged  through  our  country,  following  the  water  courses, 
Captain  Wilkeson  was  taken  with  a  severe  attack  of  it  upon 
one  of  his  down  trips  with  the  Eagle.  His  mate,  Frank 
Bushaw,  who  looked  upon  his  commander  as  of  "the  salt  of 
the  earth,"  was  ordered  to  take  the  vessel  into  the  nearest  port 
to  get  medical  assistance,  which  order  he  obeyed  with  the 
greatest  possible  speed.  After  procuring  a  physician  for  the 
Captain,  yet  even  then  believing  he  would  surely  die,  he  him- 
self went  ashore,  and  in  his  intense  grief,  sought,  not  spiritua/ 
but  spiritu^wj'  assistance,  to  drown  his  sorrows,  and  got  as 
drunk  as  a  lord  in  the  endeavor.  This  was  a  singular  way  of 
showing  his  love  and  respect  for  the  Captain,  but  it  was,  per- 
haps, the  most  expressive  way  of  which  he  was  capable. 

The  deck  load  of  sail  vessels  in  the  summer  season,  many 
years  ago,  consisted  mostly  of  white  oak  staves  and  heading 
for  flour  barrels.  The  term  commonly  used  to  designate  this 
kind  of  freight  was  "  Ohio  fur."  On  one  of  my  passages  with 
Captain  Wilkeson,  the  deck  being  covered  with  this  "fur,"  he 
told  me  that  he  did  not  like  to  see  this  material  going  away 
from  the  Maumee  Valley  in  this  shape.  I  asked  in  what  shape 
he  would  choose  to  have  it  go.  He  quickly  replied,  "  Make 
the  barrels  and  send  them  filled  with  flour, — that  is  the  way 
this  deck  load  should  be  sent.  We  should  try  to  encourage 
our  own  people,  and  encourage  others  to  come  among  us  and 
help  to  develope  the  resources  of  the  Maumee  Valley."  That 
was  his  theme  in  conversation  and  what  he  was  always  trying 
to  do.  And  he  knew  that  encouraging  those  on  shore  would 
also  help  those  who  werf=  doing  business  upon  the  water. 

Before  steamboats  rar  up  the  Maumee  river,  two  of  my  sis- 
ters came  down  one  summer  ti  om  Perrysburg  with  the  Captain, 
aboard  the  Eagle,  spending  much  of  the  time  on  deck  chatting 


CAPT.  DAVID  WILKESON. 


II 


with  him;  he  at  the  helm,  they  surrounded  with  the  usual  deck 
load  of  "fur."  The  Captain  was  good  company.  He  was  in 
the  habit  of  procuring  and  reading  the  usual  popular  literature 
of  his  times.  Cooper's  novels  he  was  familiar  with,  and  on 
this  trip  would  relate  some  of  the  exploits  of  Leatherstocking 
with  his  rifle,  and  many  other  incidents  concerning  the 
characters  so  well  portrayed  by  the  novelist.  Such  a  com- 
mander as  this  made  the  trip  upon  his  vessel  a  pleasant  instead 
of  a  tedious  journey. 

Captain  Wilkeson's  vessel  crews  consisted  usually  of  men 
residing  at  Perrysburg  or  vicinity,  or  of  those  he  was  ac  ^uainted 
with  in  other  places;  but  sometimes  he  was  obliged  to  fill  the 
number  required  by  engaging  strangers  who  made  application 
to  him.  On  one  of  his  trips  with  the  Eagle  he  had  with  him  a 
man  of  this  latter  class.  Soon  after  his  arrival  m  Buffalo  he 
missed  from  a  canvas  bag  which  contained  some  sixty  or 
eighty  dollars  in  silver,  twenty-five  or  thirty  dollars.  Suspicion 
"pointed  at  once  to  this  new  hand,  as  he  had  the  fullest  confi- 
dence in  the  honesty  of  all  the  rest  of  the  crew.  The  Captain 
took  him  aside  and  told  him  that  there  was  some  money  missing 
from  his  bag  of  silver,  and  charged  him  with  having  taken  it. 
He  told  him  that  there  was  no  use  of  his  denying  the  charge, 
and  that  he  had  better  "own  up"  at  once,  for  he  knew  there 
was  no  one  of  the  rest  of  the  crew  that  would  do  such  a  thing. 
The  fellow  being  confronted  so  frankly  and  squarely,  owned 
that  he  had  taken  the  money.  The  Captain  then  asked  what 
he  had  done  with  it.  •  He  said  that  he  had  hidden  it  under  the 
dock.  The  Captain  told  him  to  go  and  get  it,  which  he  did  at 
once,  and  passed  it  over  to  the  owner.  The  Captain  then 
said,  "  I  now  give  you  your  choice,  to  be  handed  over  to  the 
authorities  here,  or  take  from  me  a  flogging  with  a  '  rope's 
end.'  "  He  chose  the  latter.  He  was  accordingly  kept  in  dur- 
ance till  evening,  and  when  all  was  quiet  around  the  dock,  the 
Captain  took  him  in  hand,  gave  him  a  powerful  flogging,  paid 
him  his  wages  and  told  him  to  go  and  be  an  honest  man  in  future. 


12 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


Captain  Wilkeson  was  fond  of  practical  jokes  with  his  asso- 
ciates. When  sailing  the  Eagle  and  making  her  last  trip  for 
the  season  before  returning  home,  it  was  his  custom  to  lay  in 
supplies  at  Buffalo  for  himself  and  men  for  the  winter,  such  as 
clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  etc.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he 
and  some  of  his  men  stepped  into  a  store,  and  he  said  to  the 
merchant,  "  Fhere  are  a  half-dozen  of  us  that  want  to  be  fitted 
out  with  boots  and  shoes."  A  display  of  these  articles  was  of 
course  soon  made.  "Well,  now,"  said  the  Captr'n,  "what  wil! 
you  charge  a  p?^.ir;  there  is  one  man  aboard  to  come  up,  beside 
the  colored  boy  Joe,  six  pairs  in  all  ? "  The  merchant  at  once 
named  a  price  which  was  satisfactory  to  the  Captain,  excepting 
that  he  claimed  he  ought  not  to  charge  more  than  half  price 
for  the  black  boy's  pair.  So  the  merchant  said  he  would  not 
mind  as  to  that,  and  agreed  to  put  the  boy's  boots  at  half 
price.  The  articles  were  selected,  for  those  present,  and  the 
man  and  boy  aboard  were  sent  for;  but  when  the  boy  came  to 
be  fitted,  he  required  a  larger  boot  than  any  of  the  crew. 
After  this  the  Captain  would  joke  the  merchant  about  hi? 
sale  of  a  black  boy's  boots  at  half  price. 

Captain  Wilkeson  was  very  fond  of  instrumental  music;  and 
in  1831  or  1832,  as  we  had  at  my  father's  a  piano  (there  being 
at  that  time  but  one  or  two  others  in  the  town),  one  of  my 
sisters  who  had  taken  lessons  while  away  at  school  used  to  en- 
tertain him  by  playing.  The  piano  was  a  new  thing  to  him,  as 
it  was  to  most  of  the  people  here  at  that  time. 

The  Captain  had  been  a  hard  worker  from  his  boyhood, 
and  had  accumulated  some  property.  He  had  full  faith  in  the 
success  of  lake  navigation,  and  in  the  fall  of  1832  made  ar- 
rangements to  build  himself  a  steamboat.  Work  was  com- 
menced on  this  vessel  in  December  of  that  year,  at  Perrys- 
burg,  by  the  late  F.  N.  Jones  (the  latter  part  of  whose  life 
was  spent  in  Buffalo),  who  superintended  the  building.  He 
was  sent  for  this  purpose  by  his  father,  who  had  taken  the 
contract  for  constructing  the  boat.     Some  of  Captain  Wilke- 


CAPT.  DAVID  WILKESON. 


13 


son's  neighbors  and  friends  taking  stock  in  the  enterprise,  the 
steamboat  w?s  duly  completed,  and  at  the  opening  of  naviga- 
tion in  the  spring  of  1834,  commenced  sailing.  The  name 
chosen  for  this  steamer  was  the  Commodore  Perry. 

An  incident  showing  well  the  energetic  and  efficient  char- 
acter of  the  man  may  be  given  in  this  connection.  Not 
knowing  but  there  might  be  something  in  the  way  to  endanger 
the  boat  at  the  launching,  Captain  Wilkeson  stripped  himself 
and  went  in  personally  and  examined  the  bottom  of  the  r'ver 
or  cove  where  the  launching  was  to  be  accomplished. 

Among  those  who  had  taken  stock  in  the  Commodore  Perry 
was  one  Joe  or  Joseph  Langford,  a  colored  man  who  had  been 
cook  on  the  Eagle,  and  afterwards  had  the  same  position  on 
the  Perry.  His  wife,  a  colored  woman,  was  one  of  the  most 
lady-like  and  stylish  women  in  Perrysburg.  During  one  of  the 
steamboat's  trips,  after  nearly  all  the  passengers  had  eaten  their 
dinner  and  none  were  left  at  the  table,  Langford  sat  down 
and  was  eating,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  a  passenger  who 
chanced  to  be  late  for  dinner.  This  person  seeing  Langford  at 
the  table,  said,  "  I  am  not  going  to  eat  with  a  nigger."  Lang- 
ford felt  quite  indignant  at  the  remark  and  curtly  observed, 
"  I  should  like  to  know  who  has  a  better  right  to  eat  his 
dinner  aboard  that  boat  than  one  of  the  owners." 

In  those  early  days  of  lake  commerce,  in  the  spring,  or  late 
in  the  winter,  just  before  the  opening  of  navigation,  every  one 
seemed  busy  along  the  docks  in  fitting  out  both  steam  and  sail 
vessels.  Sometimes,  however,  these  would  be  delayed  in  com- 
mencing their  trips  until  quite  late  in  the  season  on  account 
of  the  "ice  blockade."  I  presume  there  are  many  now  living 
who  remember  the  delay  caused  at  Buffalo  by  the  ice,  in  the 
spring  of  1837.  All  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  had  been  for 
several  weeks  ready  to  leave,  but  found  it  impossible  to  get 
out.  Boats  would  go  out  to  the  line  of  the  ice  and  make  an 
attempt  to  break  through,  but  their  efforts  were  in  vain.  They 
would  have  to  work  themselves  back  out  of  the  jam  and  return 


; 


14 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


% 


to  their  berths  in  the  harbor.  Vessels  and  steamboats  from 
the  west  would  be  seen  to  come  down  to  the  edge  of  the  float- 
ing ice,  and  after  reconnoitering  would  return.  In  this  state 
of  affairs,  when  Captain  VVilkeson  with  his  steamboat  Commo- 
dore Perry  came  down,  it  being  his  second  trip  from  Perrys- 
burg  that  spring,  he  determined  not  to  be  jaiked  a  second 
time,  and  resolved  to  work  his  way  through  i'^  possible,  even 
though  it  broke  all  the  buckets  on  the  paddle-wheels,  and  cut 
through  the  planking  of  the  boat.  To  resolve  with  him  was  to 
act.  He  plunged  into  the  ice,  and  all  hands  exerted  them- 
selves with  a  will  to  force  the  boat  through.  After  many  hours 
of  hard  labor,  and  a  general  destruction  of  the  buckets  and 
some  of  the  arms  of  the  wheels,  the  Perry  emerged  from  the 
ice-pack  into  clear  water,  and  in  a  crippled  state  steamed 
slowly  up  the  harbor. 

The  docks  and  vessels  were  covered  with  a  multitude  of 
people,  who  had  been  watching  with  anxiety  the  daring  and 
successful  attempt  to  reach  the  harbor.  As  the  gallant  steamer 
passed  grandly  on,  the  shores  and  crafts  of  all  kinds  rang  with 
the  loud  huzzas  of  the  spectators,  which  continued  to  greet  the 
noble  vessel  and  her  plucky  commander  until  she  reached 
her  dock. 

Captain  Wilkeson  was  the  hero  of  the  day.  Through  the  en- 
ergy and  confidence  he  had  displayed  in  this  emergency,  as  in 
others,  he  had  succeeded,  by  breaking  the  blockade,  in  setting 
the  many  captives  free, — for  the  channel  made  through  the  ice 
by  the  Perry  remained  open,  and  within  an  hour  several  sail- 
vessels  had  taken  advantage  of  it,  and  before  the  sun  went 
down  were  out  beyond  the  ice.  Others  continued  to  follow, 
and  there  was  no  further  obstruction.  The  Commod  -^e  Perry 
was  thus  the  first  boat  which  came  in  that  spring,  arriving  the 
1 6th  day  of  May. 

Upon  one  occasion  I  was  talking  with  the  "Commodore  ", 
as  he  was  sometimes  called,  about  his  breaking  through  the 
**  ice  blockade,"  and  said  to  him  that  the  dock  men  ought  to 


CAPT.  DAVID   WILKESON. 


•S 


have  given  him  a  silver  cup  or  some  other  token  of  acknowl- 
edgment for  the  great  service  he  had  rendered  them,  especially 
as  his  successful  efforts  had  been  attended  with  considerable 
damage  to  his  boat.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  wish  anything. 
"  But,"  continued  he,  "they  did  invite  me  to  take  a  public 
dinner  at  the  Mansion  House,  but  I  declined,  as  I  could  not 
afford  to  spend  the  time." 

This  was  not,  however,  his  first  exploit  in  opening  naviga- 
tion at  Buffalo,  in  order  to  accomplish  his  own  plans  in  the 
carrying  business.  Six  years  before,  when  sailing  the  Eagle, 
he  came  down  with  his  load  of  freight  and  found  Buffalo  har- 
bor blockaded  with  ice.  No  craft  had  gone  out  or  come  in. 
With  his  usual  ready  determination,  he  ran  his  vessel  into 
the  floating  ice,  and  after  many  hours  of  hard  work  on  the 
part  of  his  faithful  crew  entered  port.  Through  the  opening 
he  had  made  by  his  hazardous  undertaking,  others  followed, 
and  navigation  was  open  for  the  season. 

Another  incident  which  I  have  heard  related  will  illustrate 
his  spirit  as  a  seami^n,  viz.:  that  having  been  caught  in  a  sud- 
den storm  of  wind,  hail  and  rain,  which  threw  his  vessel  on  its 
beams'  ends,  when  unable  to  walk  the  deck,  he  crawled  upon 
his  hands  and  knees,  holding  on  by  whatever  he  could,  the  hail 
lacerating  his  face  so  that  the  blood  ran  down;  and  by  his  per- 
severance and  management  brought  his  vessel  all  right  again. 

Such  stories  of  those  that  "  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  and 
do  business  upon  the  waters  "  bring  to  my  mind  often  the  old 
English  song  I  used  to  hear  sung  more  than  sixty  years  ago: 

"Ye  gentlemen  of  England,  who  stay  at  home  at  ease, 
Ye  little  know  ,ne  dangers  upon  the  raging  seas, 
When  up  she  mounts  aloft,  my  'uoys,  and  down  again  so  low, 
How  she  reels  upon  her  keel  while  the  stormy  winds  do  blow." 

When  the  steamboats  on  our  lakes  ran  in  opposition,  or 
*'every  one  for  itself,"  the  owners  would  have  bands  of  musicians 
aboard,  playing  to  attract  travellers.  Some  boats  would  keep 
the  band  aboard  to  play  while  in  port,  and  some  to  play  while 


i6 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


nil 


entering  and  leaving  the  harbor.  1  hi,ve  heard  steamboat 
mates  who  sailed  with  Captain  /ilk?son  say  that  he  fre- 
quently meddled  with  things  and  affairs  that  did  not  belong  to 
him,  but  which  it  was  the  duty  of  the  mate  to  see  to.  I  know 
well  that  he  always  ssood  at  the  engine  bell-rope  to  guide  the 
course  of  the  boat  in  entering  or  going  out  of  port.  I  also 
noticed  that  the  brass  band  would  sometimes  cease  playing 
while  entering  or  going  out  of  pert.  He  gave  me  the  reason 
for  this,  saying  that  he  did  not  dare  trust  himself,  for  fear  lest 
in  listening  to  the  music  his  mind  might  be  diverted  too  much 
from  directing  the  course  of  the  boat.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
he  thought  it  was  necessary,  sometimes,  to  be  "  boss  and  all 
hands,"  to  make  things  go  right  aboard  his  boat,  and  have 
everything  done  up  to  time. 

The  Captain  was  prompt  in  his  appointments  and  engage- 
ments. The  Commodore  Perry's  time  for  leaving  her  dock  at 
Perrysburg  was  a  standing  notice  in  the  papers  of  the  place. 
I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  sometimes  lose  some  passengers  by 
being  a  little  too  exactly  on  time.  He  answered  me  in  a  slow, 
musiug  tone,  casting  his  eyes  up  and  scanning  the  bank  and 
roads  up  and  down  the  river  (we  were  now  lying  at  the  dock 
at  Perrysburg),  saying,  "If  I  see  any  persons  hurrying  to  get 
aboard,  I  hold  on  a  little  to  give  them  a  chance;  but  if  I  see  none 
of  that  class  I  order  the  boat  to  be  let  loose  at  the  bow  so  as  to 
swing  off  from  the  dock."  While  sailing  the  Perry  his  '.ife  and 
sometimes  some  of  the  children  would  accompany  him  down 
and  spend  a  few  days  at  my  father's  house  while  the  boat  made 
a  trip.  The  Captain's  homestead  was  half  a  mile  or  so  above 
the  dock,  and  one  time  his  wife  informed  him  that  she  would 
accompany  him  down  the  next  trip.  The  day  came  and  the 
hour  for  starting.  The  time  was  up;  Mrs.  W.  was  seen  coming, 
walking  quite  fast,  because  she  knew  his  promptness,  but  was 
still  some  distance  away  when  she  saw  the  Perry  swing  into 
the  stream,  and  she  was  left.  The  Captain  related  this  to  me 
on  his  arrival  at  Buffalo.     He  seemed  to  enjoy  the  transaction 


CAPT.  DAVID  WILA'ESON. 


17 


ind  consider  it  as  a  joke  on  his  wife,  to  let  her  know  that  she 
must  be  up  to  time  in  all  business  transactions. 

In  early  steamboating  on  our  lakes  there  was  sometimes 
great  comi^etition  in  cutting  fares,  and  most  travelers  were 
willing  to  take  advantage  of  it.  To  illustrate  the  disposition 
of  men  I  will  state  what  Captain  Wilkeson  related  to  me.  He 
said  that  a  gentleman  once  approached  him  here  at  Buffalo, 
on  the  dock,  and  asked  what  he  would  charge  him,  as  cabin 
passenger,  to  Detroit.  The  Ca])tain  named  an  amount  which 
was  considerably  less  than  half  the  regular  fare,  and  he  was 
invited  to  step  aboard  and  take  a  drink  with  the  Captain,  at 
the  bar.  A  little  while  after  this  the  Captain  met  him  again, 
and  was  told  the  other  boat  would  carry  him  for  nothing. 
"Well,  I  will  carry  you  for  nothing  and  board  you.  You  will 
go  with  me,  of  course,  won't  you?  "  "  Well,  I  don't  know,"  was 
the  answer,  "  I  think  his  wine,  is  a  little  preferable  to  yours!" 

At  another  time  the  steamboat  managers  had  agreed  that 
the  boats  should  have  up  to  a  certain  time  to  get  their  passen- 
gers, etc.,  and  that  then  they  would  leave  the  dock.  On  one 
occasion  the  time  was  up,  and  the  captain  of  a  certain  boat  (it 
was  not  Captain  Wilkeson,  for  he  scorned  any  subterfuge  of 
this  kind)  was  directed  to  cast  off  and  go.  Just  then  the  rain 
was  pouring  down  in  torrents.  The  answer  to  the  order  given 
him  was,  "  You  should  not  expect  me  to  go  out  in  such  rain." 
The  fact  was  there  was  a  railroad  train  from  the  east  past  due. 
The  answer,  however,  was  given  more  as  a  joke  or  a  put-off 
than  anything  serious.  They,  the  captains,  were  always  hon- 
orable in  their  engagements. 

Some  of  his  friends  at  home  "ran  him"  pretty  hard,  at  one 
time,  about  his  paying  so  much  attention  and  giving  so  mv.ch 
care  to  his  steamboat,  and  neglecting  his  homestead.  They 
said  that  he  kept  his  boat  in  good  repair,  all  painted  up  nice 
and  fine,  but  neglected  his  premises  at  home;  that  his  house 
looked  dusty  and  brown, — wanted  painting  and  brushing  up. 
So  they  offered  to  contribute  and  furnish  the  materials  if  he 


i8 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 


<       ! 


would  have  this  renewing  done.  He  answered  them  by  saying 
he  did  not  believe  in  this  half-way  charity  giving, — and  when 
he  did  a  person  a  favor  he  did  not  stop  half  way,  but  carried  it 
out  fully.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  if  you  furnish  the  paints  and 
materials  and  two  good  workmen  to  put  it  on,  I  will  consent 
that  you  may  have  the  job." 

There  are  many  yet  living  who  remember  the  steamboat 
Buffalo  running  into  the  Commodore  Perry  just  above  F>ie, 
and  cutting  the  boat  below  the  water-line.  Captain  Wilkeson 
lay  in  his  berth  in  the  cabin  very  ill  from  a  cold,  and  had  not 
been  able  to  be  on  deck  for  two  or  three  days.  Hearing  the  tre- 
mendous crash  caused  by  the  breakint^  of  the  shaft  and  timbers, 
he  arose  from  his  sick  bed,  went  on  deck,  and  gave  orders  to 
his  men  what  to  do.  All  was  bustle  and  commotion.  The 
next  moment  another  cracking  and  crashing  of  timbers  fol- 
lowed. It  was  one  of  the  wheels  with  part  of  the  iron  shaft 
leaving  the  boat  and  going  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake. 

The  Captain,  in  relating  the  incident  to  me,  said  it  seemed 
'  0  him  that  when  the  wheel  with  part  of  the  shaft  was  break- 
ing away  from  the  boat  the  whole  boat  was  going  to  pieces  and 
bound  for  the  bottom.  This  breaking  away  and  leaving  the 
boat,  however,  saved  the  craft  from  going  down  immediately. 
It  allowed  her  to  careen  over  and  bring  a  large  part  of  her 
broken  side  above  water.  The  passengers  and  most  of  the 
crew  were  taken  on  board  of  the  Buffalo.  Some  few  of  Cap- 
tain Wilkeson's  faithful  hands  remained  on  the  Perry  with 
him.  The  Buffalo  took  her  in  tow  and  brought  her  into  Erie 
harbor,  to  the  side  of  the  dock,  where  she  soon  after  sank  to 
the  bottom.  She  was  raised  again,  under  Captain  Wilkeson's 
management,  and  was  repaired  and  did  good  service  after  this. 
It  was  Captain  Wilkeson's  persevering  energy  that  saved  his 
boat  from  going  to  the  bottom  of  Lake  Erie  beyond  recovery. 

The  Captain,  in  speaking  of  captains  of  vessels,  as  to  their 
capability  of  taking  care  of  them  in  a  storm  or  at  any  diffi- 
cult time,  said,  "If  he,"  the  captain,  "gets  frightened,  or  loses 


CAPT.  DAVID  WILKESON. 


19 


confidence  in  himself,  he  is  good  for  nothing,  not  worth  a 
cent.  He  should  never  give  up  in  despair.  He  should  never 
say  fail,  or  admit  anything  of  the  kind  as  possible." 

To  illustrate  still  further  his  energy  in  business,  I  will  relate 
one  more  transaction. 

At  a  time  when  there  were  but  few  side-wheel  steamers 
(propellers  had  not  made  their  appearance),  in  the  latter  part  of 
one  summer,  when  business  on  the  lake  was  dull,  and  the  prices 
of  grain  as  well  as  freights  were  low,  to  make  out  a  load  for  his 
ninety-ton  vessel,  Captain  Wilkeson  bought  on  his  own  account 
two  thousand  bushels  of  first  (piality  of  wheat.  On  arriving 
at  Buffalo  he  could  make  no  sale  of  it,  nor  could  he  get  room 
to  store  it,  elevators  not  having  been  brought  out  even  as  an 
experiment  yet.  He  directed  his  men  at  once  to  work  or  tow 
his  vessel  out  into  the  lake  and  hoist  sail  for  Dunkirk.  When 
he  arrived  there  he  despatched  several  of  his  crew  on  horses, 
into  the  country,  to  call  on  the  farmers  in  that  vicinity  and 
let  them  know  there  was  a  chance  to  buy  first  quality  cf  seed 
wheat  at  the  dock  in  Dunkirk  at  fifty  cents  per  bushel,  which 
they  were  glad  to  do;  and  Captain  W,  soon  received  cash  for 
his  wheat  and  immediately  returned  to  Buffalo,  took  a  load  of 
merchandise  and  was  soon  on  his  way  back  to  the  head  of 
the  lake. 

Captain  Wilkeson,  in  his  religious  belief,  was  a  Universalist. 
With  those  whom  he  knew  who  professed  to  believe  otherwise, 
he  would  often,  at  a  convenient  time,  introduce  the  subject  of 
religion,  seemingly  to  draw  them  out  and  learn  their  views 
more  fully.  In  the  years  when  I  used  to  journey  with  him  on 
the  Eagle,  we  had  many  friendly  chats  upon  this  subject.  He 
was  familiar  with  the  Scriptures,  and  possessed  a  very  intelli- 
gent mind,  and  was  candid  and  sincere  in  all  his  arguments, — 
never  treating  the  subject  in  a  trifling  manner.  He  was  several 
yeai.  my  senior,  and  I  must  admit  many  years  older  in 
practical  business  life,  and  far  excelled  me  in  argument.  But, 
finally,  I  said  to  him,  after  repeated  conversations  on  the  sub- 


20 


RECOLLECTIONS  OE 


I  ;'!!■ 


Jii,;. 


:   W. 


ject,  "  Well,  you  truly  believe  in  your  professed  way  of  tliinking 
and  that  you  are  right  ?  "  To  this  he  answered  "  Yes,"  at  once. 
"  Very  well,"  I  continued,  "  no-v  I  can  say  more  than  that." 
"How  so?"  "  I  can  say  I  knoiv  I  am  right."  "  Well,"he  (juickly 
and  earnestly  enciuired,"l)ut  how  do  you,  ox  htni' can  you,  know?" 
I  said,  "  I  hardly  know  how  I  can  explain  that  to  you,  Init  I 
have  the  convincing  evidence  within  me, — 'God's  spirit  wit- 
nessing with  my  spirit.'  I  did  not,"  I  added,  "  obtain  this  con- 
fidence and  trust  in  our  Creator  until  I  had  become  of  m-'f  t- 
age,  and  therefore  1  think  the  evidence  more  convincing,  . 
derive  from  it  rrore  j)ointed  assurance  than  if  I  had  given  my 
assent  to  it  at  a  much  earlier  period  of  my  life." 

Continuing  the  conversation,  I  gave  him,  as  well  as  1  could,  a 
simple  statement  of  my  own  feeling  of  assurance  concerning  my 
faith  and  hope,  as  a  matter  of  experience;  resting  my  confidence 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion  as  held  by  those  usually 
called  Evangelical  Christians,  on  my  own  internal  conviction 
of  their  truth.  Having  heard  my  statement,  and  reflecting  a 
moment  he  said:  "That  is  something  I  do  not  fully  under- 
stand; but,"  he  continued,  "to  those  that  have  that  confidence 
and  faith,  I  would  be  the  last  one  to  say  anything  that  would 
shake  or  weaken  it." 

In  conclusion,  I  may  suitably  adopt  a  few  words  from  an 
obituary  notice  of  Captain  Wilkeson,  published  in  the  Toledo 
Morning  Commercial,  September  lo,  1873,  two  days  after  his 
death,  ten  years  ago 

"  He  was  a  man  of  great  kindness  of  heart  and  geniality  of 
disposition,  whereby  he  won  his  way  to  the  esteem  of  all  ac- 
quaintances; while  by  his  integrity  and  honorable  dealing,  he 
commanded  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-men  in  an  eminent 
degree.  His  independence  of  character  ever  prompted  him  to 
self-reliance  and  unremitting  effort.  After  a  resider^ce  in  the 
valley  of  fifty-eight  years,  he  passed  away  amid  a  state  of 
things  in  extraordinary  contrast    with    the    scene  which  pre- 


,11111 


C/.   /••  DAVID  WU.KESON. 


21 


sentcd  itself  to  his  youthful  eyes.  Few,  indeed,  of  his  earliest 
coteinponuies  now  remain,  and  the  last  of  them  will  soon 
follow  him.  He  it  the  care  of  those  who  have  come  or  shall 
come  after  thom  not  to  forget  ihe  deht  due  to  their  early 
enterprise  and  sacrifices." 


itiji: 
I   Hi 


l!  :' 

I 


llili 


liiii 


i  I"!  ■ 


THE 


PIONEER    STEAMBOATS 


ON    LAKE   ERIE. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


This  paper  was  written  many  years  ago,  and  originated  from 
an  impression  felt  at  the  time  that  tlie  account  of  the  events 
I  should  record  might  be  of  at  least  some  little  interest  to  the 
future  historian. 

I  have  thought  that  it  would  not,  however,  be  unacceptable 
or  out  of  place,  in  now  presenting  it,  hut  before  taking  up  the 
special  subject  in  hand,  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the  gen- 
eral aj)pearance  and  condition  of  our  town  as  it  was  at  the 
time  when  the  first  steamboat  was  built  to  run  on  Lake  Erie. 

Wh.it  I  thus  offer  is  of  my  own  knowledge  and  rec  jllection, 
written  without  resorting  to  historical  sources  for  information. 
Vet,  although  more  than  sixty  years  have  passed  since  the  two 
steamboats  of  which  I  have  written  were  built,  and  the  doings 
which  I  record  occurred,  those  early  scenes  are  still  vivid  in 
memory;  and  so  my  story  is  an  account  at  first  hand  of  mat- 
ters of  fact,  as  they  appeared  to  me  at  the  time  of  their  occur- 
rence, given  in  a  plain  and  simple  form.  As  one  between  the 
first  settlers  of  this  town  and  its  present  occupants,  between 
a  time  which  has  long  been  past,  and  the  present,  indeed 
between  the  dead  and  the  living  (for  my  early  associates  have 
nearly  all  passed  away),  I  present  these  recollections. 

In  your  mind's  eye,  then,  go  back  with  me  to  the  year  1818, 
and  imagine  the  situation  and  the  appearance  of  Buffalo  and 


24 


THE  PIONEER  STEAM  BO  A  TS 


its  neighborhood  at  that  time.  Then  the  blue  waters  of  Nia- 
gara, unobstructed  by  the  works  of  man,  rolled  and  whirled 
in  their  hurried,  turbulent,  and  precipitant  way;  washing  in 
their  haste  the  black,  rocky  shore,  below  the  village,  from 
which  that  locality  derived  the  name  of  "  Black  Rock." 

Bird  Island,  lying  low  in  the  midst  of  Niagara  River,  was  in 
its  primitive,  natural  state,  and  alive  with  flocks  of  wild  fowl, 
from  which  it  took  its  name.  These,  never  having  been  mo- 
lested, cared  but  little  for  the  presence  of  man  as  he  moored 
his  light  water  craft  under  the  lee  of  the  island,  or  traversed 
the  rock  and  sand  of  which  the  reef  was  composed. 

The  beautiful  sand  and  gravel  shore,  from  the  mouth  of 
Buffalo  Creek  down  to  the  black,  rocky  ledge,  was  then  the 
main  traveled  road  between  the  two  villages  of  Buffalo  and 
Black  Rock,  which  were  struggling  for  growth,  and  even  for 
existence.  While,  down  the  river  below  the  huge  rocks,  the 
beach  then  extended  many  miles  towards  the  great  falls. 

I  well  remember  how  on  Miis  beach,  thus  in  its  primitive 
state,  riding  down  the  river  just  below  the  ferry,  carrying 
a  lantern,  in  the  morning  between  four  and  five  o'clock,  in 
October,  1812,  the  gallant  Cuyler  lost  his  life  by  a  cannon 
ball  shot  across  from  Canada  by  the  enemy.  This  was  in 
the  first  year  of  the  war  of  1812.  But,  when  the  events  to 
which  my  paper  relates  took  place,  we  had  passed  through 
that  three  years  war  against  a  powerful  array  of  well-trained 
English  troops  and  their  savage  allies.  The  relics  of  devasta- 
tion and  destruction,  consetpient  upon  this  terrible  conflict, 
carried  on  as  it  was,  not  only  at,  but  within  our  very  doors, 
were  to  be  seen  on  every  hand.  The  passer-by  saw  them  in 
the  ashes  and  stacks  of  chimneys  of  the  burned  buildings  of 
our  village  and  vicinity;  and  as  he  passed  up  and  down  the 
skirts  of  our  town,  on  the  bank  of  Niagara  river,  as  far  down 
as  Conjockety  creek,  he  saw  them  in  the  many  hillocks 
over  new-made  graves  that  marked  the  resting  place  of  those 
who  fell  in  the  frequent    battles    that    were    fought    on    this 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


25 


border  during  that  war.  And  he  saw  them  in  our  forests,  in 
the  shattered  and  broken  trees,  which,  pierced  by  cannon 
balls  and  bombshells  that  passed  over  our  batteries,  struck 
at  twenty,  thirty  or  forty  feet  from  the  ground;  so  that  thus 
weakened,  they  would,  under  the  subsequent  effect  of  the 
wind,  break  and  hang  down,  from  the  places  where  the  shots 
had  passed  through  them. 

Squaw  Island  was  in  its  native  forest  beauty,  with  Niagara's 
water  flowing  rapidly  by  on  either  side,  rolling  and  whirling  as 
if  in  haste  to  make  the  great  leap  over  the  grand  precipice;  and 
the  great  cataract's  heavy  booming  sound,  which,  although 
residing  nearly  twenty  miles  distant,  I  have  so  often  heard  in 
the  still  quiet  morning  for  more  than  three-score  years,  was 
then,  as  now  it  is,  in  the  great  orchestra  of  God's  creation,  the 
sublime,  bass  note,  which  never  can  be  excelled  by  the  puny 
work  of  man. 

At  IjJack  Rock,  I  may  here  mention,  as  at  Buffalo,  only  small 
beginnings  had  been  made  by  way  of  occupation  and  set- 
tlement. 

Porter,  Barton  &  Co.  had  commenced  the  forwarding  btisi- 
n.ess  (which  included  the  portage  around  the  falls)  in  1805. 
Their  principal  place  of  business  was  at  Black  Rock. 

Before  the  war  of  1812,  Nathaniel  Sill  &:  Co.  (I  think 
Nathaniel  Sill's  brother,  Joseph  Sill,  was  the  "Co.")  had  a 
warehouse  at  the  same  place;  and  I  believe  soon  after  there 
were  one  or  two  others.  They  were  all  situated  nearly  oppo- 
site the  head  of  Squp  .'  Island;  and  near  them,  and  below,  was 
a  ship-yard,  where  the  "  Walk-in-ihe-waier,"  the  first  Lake 
Erie  steamboat,  was  built. 

Excepting  these  few  buildings,  and  surrounding  clearings 
near  the  river  bank,  all  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Black  Rock 
was  covered  with  native  forest.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
timber  was  white  oak,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  principal 
timber  used  in  ship-building.  This  timber-land  extended  over 
the  greater  part  of  what  is  now  the  city  of  Buffalo. 


TTT  I 


•I 


26 


THE  PIONEER  STEAM  BOA  TS 


IF  II 


"^iil 


a,S(  I 


1^ 


To  show  you  still  further  the  wild  state  in  which  the  lands 
our  city  covers  then  were,  I  may  mention  some  of  my 
personal  exploits  during  my  early  manhood.  Having  grown 
up  from  infancy  in  these  native  forests,  and  being  naturally 
inclined  in  such  a  direction,  I  very  easily  drifted  into  the 
habits  of  the  natives  in  hunting  and  killing  game,  by  which  I 
became  quite  a  Nimrod  during  the  first  years  of  the  settling  of 
our  town. 

Besides  trapping  foxes,  woodchucks,  muskrats,  and  ;->kunks, 
and  snaring  partridges,  I  have  shot  with  my  rifle  some  larger 
game.  I  remember  killing  a  deer,  for  instance,  where  York 
street  now  is,  at  a  point  about  thirty  rods  northeasterly  from 
the  Normal  School  building;  another  about  a  gun-shot,  or  say 
thirty  rods,  southeast  of  the  State  Insane  Asylum  building; 
another  at  about  the  spot,  on  Ferry  street,  where  Fifteenth 
street  crosses  it;  and  another  east  of  Main  street  between 
Utica  and  Best  streets.  I  also  killed  several  other  deer  within 
what  are  now  our  city  limits. 

And  even  since  1825  I  have  hunted  often,  and  have  killed 
raccoons,  and  chased  foxes  and  deer  in  the  native  forest, 
where  now  we  have  these  paved  streets  and  great  blocks  of 
brick  buildings. 

At  this  time  much  of  the  travel,  as  I  have  before  stated, 
between  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock,  was  by  the  way  of  the  beach. 
Large  sand-hills  existed  at  "Sandytown;"  that  is,  at  about  the 
foot  of  York  street,  now  Porter  avenue  ;  these  had  been 
thrown  up  by  the  wind  and  waves,  and  piled  against  the  edge 
of  the  forest.  In  th6  river  abreast  of  Sandytown,  was  a  good 
place  for  fishing  with  a  hook.  This  could  be  accomplished, 
however,  only  by  wading  in  up  to  the  knees  so  as  to  reach  the 
deeper  water  with  the  line.  The  Indians,  making  their  camp- 
fires  on  the  beach,  were  always  here  in  the  fishing  season. 

In  their  treaty  with  the  whites  they  reserved  the  right  to 
use  the  floodwood  for  their  fires  while  fishing,  or  at  other 
times  when  they  might  want  it. 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


%1 


The  outlet,  or  channel  of  Buffalo  creek,  gave  only  sufficient 
water  for  flat-boats.  After  a  heavy  blow  down  the  lake  there 
was  not  even  that  depth. 

The  warehouses  on  Buffalo  creek  at  that  time  were  I  think 
only  Wilkeson  &  Bigelow's,  Townsend  &  Coit's,  and  Pratt  & 
Co.'s.  The  first  of  these,  the  first  Buffalo  creek  warehouse 
built,  was  located  at  the  junction  of  the  Big  and  Little  Buffalo 
creeks,  at  the  foot  of  what  is  now  Commercial  street. 

The  road  leading  west  ran  from  the  foot  of  Main  street 
immediately  on  the  bank  of  Big  Buffalo  creek  to  Pratt's  ferry. 

Dead  creek  entered  Big  Buffalo  Creek  a  little  below  Pratt's 
ferry,  and  was  crossed  by  a  small  wooden  bridge.  It  is  now 
the  slip  that  connects  the  Ohio  Basin  with  the  harbor. 

The  land  from  Sandytown  to  Buffalo  creek,  west  of  "  The 
Terrace,"  was,  most  of  it,  covered  with  an  alder  swamp  and 
water,  with  the  exception  of  some  scattering  large  trees  skirt- 
ing the  beach  of  the  lake  and  river. 

The  peninsula,  between  Buffalo  creek  and  the  lake,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  acres  of  cleared  land  opposite  to  Pratt's 
ferry  on  the  Leach  farm,  was  covered  entirely  with  the  native 
forest. 

At  this  time  the  whole  town  of  Buffalo  contained  less  than 
two  thousand  inhabitants.  The  village  contained  about  twelve 
hundred.  Most  of  the  villagers  resided  on  Main,  Washing- 
ton and  Pearl  streets.  There  were  some  scattered  dwellings 
on  the  Seneca  road  leading  to  the  Indian  village,  and  a  few 
others  outside  the  streets  I  have  named. 

With  the  exception  of  Main  and  Niagara  no  street  extended 
north  further  than  Chippewa;  nor  south  beyond  Crow  street 
(now  Exchange),  until  some  years  after  1818. 

Genesee  street,  east  of  Washington,  was  not  opened  until 
eight  or  ten  years  after  this,  .  ' 

Scattering  forest  trees,  and  stumps  without  number,   were 
standing  in  most  of  the  streets  and  highways, 
(,,,  Every  family  had  a  garden  adjoining  its  residence. 


^wP 


aS 


THE  PIONEER  STEAMBOATS 


U  'm 


I      :  I 


I!  ;; 


m 


ill 


u^ 


The  village  and  farm  lots,from  Chippewa  street  to  Cold  Spring, 
and  all  beyond,  were  mostly  covered  with  native  forests. 

What  I  have  stated  as  to  the  primitive  condition  and  scen- 
ery of  Black  Rock  and  Buffalo,  is  more  fully  applicable  to 
all  the  south  sho;°,  and  ports  of  Lake  Erie  at  that  time.  We 
were  living  almost  ''terally  in  a  wilderness;  and  so  were  we 
situated,  when  the  pe  jple  of  this  frontier  were  informed  that  a 
steamboat  was  to  be   juilt  to  run  on  our  lakes. 

THE  STEAMBOATS. 

The  first  steamboat  which  navigated  the  waters  of  Lake 
Erie  was  constructed  at  the  village  of  Black  Rock,  near  the 
foot  of  Auburn  street,  about  opposite  the  head  of  Scjuaw 
Island,  and  was  launched  on  the  28th  day  of  May,  18 18.  She 
was  named  the  Walk-in-the-water,  and  was  of  two  hundred 
forty  tons  burden.  The  boat  was  completed,  and  started  on 
her  first  trip  to  Detroit,  August  25th,  the  same  season.  At 
this  time  there  was  no  harbor  at  Buffalo.  Vessels  were  com- 
pelled to  lie  off  in  the  lake,  or  under  Bird  Island  at  anchor, 
while  receiving  and  discharging  their  cargoes,  or  while  wait- 
ing for  a  favorable  wind  to  sail  up  the  lake. 

Her  engines  were  not  of  sufficient  power  to  propel  her  up 
the  rapids  into  the  lake.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  it  was 
necessary  to  apply  that  long-used,  and  quite  primitive  propelling 
power  called  the  "horn  (or  horned)  breeze."  I  well  remember 
how  sometimes  when  I  was  fishing  at  Sandytown  the  boat 
would  come  paddling  along  with  the  assistance  of  some  ten  or 
fifteen  yoke  of  oxen,  under  the  command  of  our  industrious 
and  enterprising  townsman,  the  Lite  Captain  Sheldon  Thomp- 
son, with  his  long  ox-whip  in  hand  to  urge  and  guide  them. 

That  craft  was  quite  a  new  thing,  the  invention  having  only 
lately  been  brought  out,  and  put  into  practical  and  profit- 
able use. 

The  first  commander  was  Captain  Job  Fish.  This  Captain 
Fish  had  been  an  engineer  for  Fulton,  Livingston  &  Co.,  on  the 


II-, 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


29 


North  river,  the  leading  member  of  that  firm  being  the  cele- 
l)rated  Robert  Fulton,  who  was  the  first  man  to  make  steam  a 
success  in  propelling  a  boat. 

The  first  pilot  of  the  Walk-in-the-7vatet\,  was  John  Davis, 
who  subsequently  sailed  her  as  captain  part  of  one  season.  It 
was  not  supposed,  or  presumed,  tl  at  anyone  residing  in  this 
far-off  place  called  Buffalo,  was  capable  of  managing  or  sail- 
ing that  most  wonderful  craft  called  a  steamboat,  and  so 
Captains  Fish,  Davis,  Jedediah  Rogers,  and  Sherman,  were 
all  imported  from  the  great  city  of  New  York,  as  their  respect- 
ive services  were  required,  to  sail  the  \Valk-iii-the-7vatcr,  and 
subsequently  the  Superior,  of  which  I  shall  presently  give  an 
account. 

These  captains  were  not  professional  sailors  or  seamen 
with  the  exception  of  Captain  Davis,  but  were  all  very  polite, 
gentlemanly  men,  unexceptionable  in  their  deportment,  and 
disposition  to  please  and  make  comfortable  and  ])leasant  the 
passage  of  all  travelers  while  guests  aboard  their  boat.  But 
there  was  also  imported  from  the  city  of  New  York,  for  a 
steward,  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Newland,  a  dandy  cox- 
comb sort  of  a  fellow,  who  thought  to  "  astonish  us  natives  " 
by  using  many  of  his  New  York  cockney  expressions  in  his 
incjuiries  among  the  farmers  after  vegetables  and  other  sup- 
plies for  the  table  of  the  boat.  This  Mr.  Newland  catered  for 
the  steamboat  only  one  season,  after  which  one  of  our  own 
residents  by  the  name  of  Truman  Fowler,  brother  of  the  late 
Benjamin  Fowler,  assumed  this  responsible  and  important 
station. 

To  importing  those  four  captains  from  the  great  city  of 
New  York,  there  was  not  so  much  objection,  as  they  were, 
without  excei)tion,  honorable  and  gentlemanly  men.  But  we 
certainly  had  good  .\nd  sufficient  reason  to  wish  the  Steamboat 
Company  had  brought  among  us,  unsophisticated  as  we  were, 
a  better  specimen  of  a  man,  at  least  in  morals,  than  the 
cockney  of  New  York  city,  for  a  steward. 


30 


THE  PIONEER  STEAM  BO  A  TS 


I  i 


Hi  ■■■ 


Why  he  continued  in  his  stewardship  only  one  season  I  never 
took  ])ains  to  inquire.  But  I  do  know  that  he  tried  to  ingra- 
tiate himself  into  the  favor,  if  not  the  affection,  of  a  fine 
blooming  young  lady,  daughter  of  one  of  our  neighboring 
farmers.  Having  seen  her  at  her  home,  when  he  had  been 
purchasing  supplies  for  the  boat,  he  look  the  liberty  to  call 
and  spend  an  evening  in  her  company.  In  the  course  of  the 
evening  her  father  had  reason  to  enter  the  room  quite  sud- 
denly, and  the  result  was  that  he  ordered  this  New  York 
dandy  steward  to  leave  his  house  immediately,  which  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  do.  His  exit  was  considerably  facilitated  as  he 
left  the  door-way,  by  the  toe  of  the  farmer's  boot,  propelled 
by  the  angry  farmer  behind  it.  This  farmer  lost  a  customer 
for  his  produce,  but,  I  think,  saved  a  daughter. 

The  IValk-in-t/ie-water  was  quite  a  wonderful  craft  to  the 
pioneers  of  this  place,  both  as  to  her  appearance  and  speed 
in  navigating  the  lake.  The  trip  to  Detroit,  a  distance  of 
three  hundred  miles,  and  back  again,  wind  and  weather  per- 
mitting, would  be  made  in  from  nine  to  ten  days.  This  was 
considered  very  fast  traveling  in  those  days. 

The  fare  of  each  cabin  passenger,  from  Black  Rock  to 
Detroit,  board  included,  was  first  put  at  twenty  dollars,  after- 
wards at  eighteen,  and  fimvlly  reduced  to  fifteen;  and  it  was 
reduced  in  June,  1820,  to  the  following  moderate  rates:  From 
Black  Rock  to  Erie  five  dollars.  Grand  River  seven,  Cleveland 
ten,  Sandusky  thirteen,  and  Detroit  fifteen. 

One  very  important  appendage  to  this  steamboat  was  a 
small  cannon.  It  was  a  four-pounder,  mounted  on  wheels, 
and  was  carried  on  the  forward  deck.  This  cannon  was  fired 
once,  before  she  left  port,  to  let  it  be  known  that  she  would 
leave  her  dock  at  Black  Rock  in  half  an  hour.  Also,  on  her 
return  trip  when  the  boat  arrived  within  one  mile  of  the 
mouth  of  the  river  the  cannon  was  discharged  to  let  all  the 
world  know,  at  least  all  people  that  were  in  hearing  of  the 
report,  that  the  steamboat  was  coming  in. 


!  1 
I  i    'III 


Ll- 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


3« 


This  cannon, — whose  sound  was  at  this  early  lime  of  so 
much  interest  to  us,  and  to  many  residing  on  the  shores  of 
these  lakes, — after  journeying  several  seasons  up  and  down, 
got  loose  during  one  of  our  heavy  gales,  fell  overboard  and 
was  lost.  The  late  Captain  Blake  told  me  it  was  lost  as  above 
stated,  from  his  steamboat. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  this  time  there  were  no 
harbors  on  the  lake  to  run  into  in  case  of  storms,  or  for  land- 
ing passengers  or  freight.  Should  heavy  winds  or  gales  arise, 
the  only  chance  for  safety  was,  to  run  under  Cunningham's 
Island,  Point  Abino,  or  down  Niagara  river. 

In  making  its  stoppages  at  the  different  ports,  the  boat 
would  heave  to,  or  come  to  anchor  off  shore,  and  cannon 
would  be  fired,  when  a  row-boat  (or  "  yawl  ")  would  bring 
out  the  passengers  and  freight  for  the  steamboat,  and  take 
ashore  persons  and  articles  that  were  to  be  landed.  If  the 
weather  was  rough  the  boat  would  not  stop  at  the  way  ports, 
but  the  passengers  and  freight  would  be  carried  by  to  be 
brought  ba:;k  and  landed  on  the  return  trip. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  at  this  time,  1818,  Buffalo  was 
considered  by  many  as  a  suburb  to  Black  Rock,  and  but  sec- 
ondary in  importance,  in  a  business  point  of  view,  to  that 
place.  Black  Rock  was,  in  fact,  the  principal  center-jioint,  so. 
far  as  speedy  travel  and  most  of  the  shipping  busii  ess  was 
concerned.  Porter,  Barton  &  Co.,  at  Black  Rock,  had  from 
the  year  1805,  been  striving  to  make  that  the  great  city,  which 
was  to  exist  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  and  the  prospect  now 
looked  very  fair  that  they  would  succeed.  The  day  of  the 
sailing  of  the  boat,  from  Black  Rock,  was  duly  advertised  in  our 
two  weekly  papers,  of  which  one  was  published  at  Black  Rock 
by  Smith  H.  Salisbury,  the  other  in  the  village  of  Buffalo  by  his 
brother  Hezekiah  A.  Salisbury.  Of  course  they  were  opposed 
to  each  other  in  politics,  and  duly  advocated  the  superior 
advantages  of  the  villages  in  which  their  respective  papers 
were  published.      Travelers  from  a  distance,  and  especially 


3» 


rilE  riONEEN  STEAMBOATS 


!ii';r'i 


'i' 


■m 


those  from  the  eastern  states,  whose  enterprise  in  trade  was 
proverbial, — made  their  calcuhitions  to  arrive  at  IMack  Rock 
in  time  to  take  passage  on  its  day  of  sailing.  'I'hey  brought 
their  goods  in  their  own  wagons,  and  left  their  teams  here  two 
or  three  months,  while  they  took  their  goods  "  out  west  "  and 
disposed  of  them.  Some  hired  interpreters  and  went  into  the 
Indian  country,  and  exchanged  their  merchandise  for  |)elts 
and  furs,  doing  a  very  profitable  business;  they  and  their 
goods  having  been  carried  through  the  lakes  in  sail  vessels. 
before  the  advent  of  the  steamboat.  After  the  first  trip  to 
Detroit  she  was  employed  to  carry  the  United  States  mail; 
confidence  in  her  success  being  established.  Her  speed  was 
from  eight  to  nine  miles  an  hour.  She  made  seven  trips  to 
Detroit  the  first  season,  and  was  laid  up  for  the  winter  in 
November,  i8i8,  in  Conjockety  creek. 

One  or  two  anecdotes  concerning  the  first  appearance  of  the 
Walli-in-thtuHitcr  at  the  upper  end  of  the  lake,  will  be  here 
in  place.  It  was  told  me  that  when  the  Walk-in-the-ivater  first 
made  her  appearance,  going  up  Detroit  river,  some  one  of  the 
native  French,  residing  there,  pointing  to  the  boat,  said  to  his 
associate,  "  Jean,  Jean,  just  see!  what  are  these  Yankees  a- 
seflding  us  now  but  a  saw  mill?"  It  is  said  also,  that  these 
people  were  told,  by  the  knowing  ones,  that  the  boat  was 
drawn  by  sturgeons,  and  that  some  very  readily  believed  the 
statement. 

It  was  related  to  me  by  one  of  the  pilots,  that  when  the  boat 
first  arrived  at  Detroit  she  was  a  wonder  to  all,  and  was  visited 
by  many  who  came  to  see  this  marvelous  craft;  and  that 
among  the  visitors  were  quite  a  number  of  Indians.  They 
manifested  great  curiosity  and  wonder,  wanting  to  see  and 
examine  everything  about  the  boat.  While  they  were  very 
intent  and  busy  in  examining  th_  engine  and  machinery, 
the  engineer,  Mr.  Calhoun,  let  off  steam  under  its  greatest 
power.  The  Indians  started  with  a  spring,  leap,  and  bound, 
off  and  away  from  the  boat,  and  ran  up  the  hill,  nor  did  they 


ON  LAKE  ERIE.  fl 

lessen  their  speed  until  they  were  out  of  sight  of  the  white 
man's  "  big  canoe." 

As  an  interesting  relic  of  those  times  I  give  the  following 
advertisement  for  the  third  trip  of  the  boat,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Niagara  Patriot  of  September  15,  1818: 

LAKE    KRIK    SIEAM    HOAT 

WA  L  K-  IN-  THE-  IV A  TER, 

Joi)  Fisii.  Master,  will  sail  for  the  remaimler  of  the  season  on  the  follow- 
ing; (l.iys,  to  wit: 

From  lilack  Kntk  for  Detroit  on  the  15th  and  2f)th  of  September,  the 
7th,  lyih  and  27th  of  Oetoher,  and  the  ()th  and  161I1  of  Novemher,  at  4 
o'clock  I',  M.  Relurninj;;  she  will  leave  Detroit  on  the  2ist  of  Seiiteniber, 
the  2(1,  I2ih  and  22d  of  t)ctol)er,  and  the  1st  and  iith  of  November  at  4 
o'clock  1'.  M.  I 

TIh'  lioat  will  come  to,  off  Buffalo,  to  take  on  board  or  land  passengers 
and   l>a^;ga(;e. 

Passengers  will  also  be  landed  or  taken  on  board  at  Dunkirk,  or  any 
other  place  on  the  lake  shore  not  designated  above,  when  it  may  be  practic- 
able. 

The  boat  is  fitted  up  in  handsome  style;  has  excellent  accommodations, 
and  every  exertion  will  be  made  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  pas- 
sengers. 

'I'lie  following  are  the  prices  for  passengers: 

CAlllN.    STKKRAGB. 

From  iUack  Rock  or  P)ufTalo  to  Dunkirk $3.00         $1.50 

"  '*  "  "  Erie 6.00  2.50 

"  *'  "         *'  tlrand  River 10.00  4,00 

••  •'  "  "  Cleveland 12.00  5.00 

••  •'  "         "  .Sandusky  I5ay,      .     .     .        15.00  5  50 

"  "  "         "  Detroit 1800  7.00 

Waiters  half  price  of  cabin  passengers. 

A  cabin  is  fitted  up  expressly  for  the  accommodation  of  families,  who, 

with  their  baggage,  wdl  be  carrieil  on  very  low  terms. 
F'reight  taken  at  the  usual  prices. 

Buffalo,  September  14,  i8i8. 

On  the  day  of  the  date  of  this  advertisement,  that  is,  the 
day  before  starting  on  this  third  trip,  the  Walk-in-the-water 
gave  a  pleasure-ride  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  this  vicin- 
ity, "to  Point  Abino  and  rei:iirn.''  This  was  the  first  steam- 
boat excursion  on  Lake  Frie,  and  it  will  be  suitable  to  record 
here  a  reminiscence  of  that  then  novel  event. 

A  special  advertiseirpnt  in  the  two  weekly  papers — one  in 
Black  Rock  and  the  other  in  Buffalo — had  named  the  day  and 
hour  of  starting  from  'he  dock   at  Black   Rock  ;    and  es])e- 


34 


THE  PIONEER  STEAMBOATS 


m 


cially  announred  that  the  boat  would  stop  opposite  Hiiffalo  to 
take  on  passengers.  And  now  the  day  has  rome,  and  the  hour 
is  near  for  the  uniipie  and  notal)k'  event,  and  the  scene  pre- 
sented to  the  mind's  eye  is  lively  and  gay.  'I'here  lies  tiu'  neat, 
new  steamboat  at  her  dock, her  colors  flying,  iicr  (!(.<  k  covered 
with  ladies  and  gentlemen  ;  steam  is  up  ;  smoke  is  pouring 
forth,  and  now  the  signal  gun  sounds  out  the  notice,  "  We 
start  in  Iialf  an  hour."  Hut  here  are  twelve  yoke  of  o.Kcn 
hitched  to  one  end  of  a  hawser,  the  other  end  of  which  is 
fastened  to  the  boat,  and  between  oxen  and  boat  are  two  skiffs 
afloat  under  the  hawser  to  hold  it  out  of  the  water.  And  there 
is  that  practical  business  man,  Capt.  Sheldon  'I'hompson,  ox- 
whip  in  hand,  ready  to  apply  the  "horned-bree/e,"  or  "  horn- 
breeze,"  to  do  by  "towing"  what  wind  and  steam,  together, 
could  not  do  in  their  own  proper  ways,  viz.,  to  take  the  boat 
up  through  the  swift  rapids  into  the  quieter  waters  of  the 
lake.  And  now,  time  is  u|),  lines  are  cast  off,  the  whip  is 
cracked,  and  the  oxen  bow  their  necks  under  the  yoke;  the 
boat  "hangs"  a  moment, — will  she  go?  Steam  and  oxen  are 
doing  their  best,  however,  and  they  succeed.  Tlie  boat  be- 
gins slowly  to  move,  and  the  excursion  is  commenced.  Yet, 
many  times  the  ox-led  "steamer"  seems  to  "hang"  in  her 
course,  when,  by  the  crack  of  the  whip,  the  "  horned-breeze  " 
is  urged  up  to  the  rescue.  The  rocky,  bluff  shore,  the  place 
of  the  "  Old  Ferry,"  and  of  the  strongest  rapids,  is  reached, 
and  now,  with  plenty  of  "haw,  gee,  buck,"  and  ox  whip  "  The 
Excursion  "  gets  into  quieter  waters.  Bird  Island  is  passed, 
and  the  river  cu'rent  soon  left  behind.  The  "  horn-breeze  " 
returns  to  the  shipyard  as  "Old  Horeas  "  is  fabled  to  return  to 
his  cave.  A  little  further  on  the  boat  "  heaves  to"  and  stops, 
as  advertised,  "  opposite  Buffalo,"  off  the  shallow  mouth  of  the 
creek.  Here  are  several  yawl-boats  fdled  with  the  Buffalo 
installment  of  excursionists,  few,  however,  at  most,  for  the 
whole  town  of  Buffalo,  even  up  to  1820,  had  scarcely  more 
than  two  thousand  inhabitants.     While  these  board  the  boat. 


f.  \ 


ON  LAKE  KKIK. 


39 


let  us  iiDagine  ourselves  upon  her  deck,  or  better,  mounted  on 
her  wlieelhouse.     Yonder,  to  the  rij^ht,  across  the  river,  are  the 
ruins  of  "old"   l"'ort   Mrie,   then  only   four  or  five  years  old, 
as  ruins.     How  few  remain  who  lived  amid  the  lonflicts  of 
those  days!     There,  spreading  off  in  front  as  we  look  south- 
westward,  is  the  beautiful  lake.     Now,  toward  the  left  a  little, 
is  a  small  point  of  sandy  beach,  and   1   am  in  doubt  whether 
then   or   not   till   one  or  two   years  later,  even  the  first   little- 
pioneer   lighthouse,   kept   by   Mr.   Skates,   marked  that  bit  of 
sand,  so  important  a  spot  to  mariners  in  later  days.     And  still 
farther  to  the  left  is  the  shallow,  ever-shifting  channel  of  Buf- 
falo creek,  sometimes  in  heavy  gales   filled  up,  so  that  some 
have   declared   that   they  had  crossed  it  from  shore  to  shore 
dry  shod,  and  anon  broken  through  by  the  current,  may-be  rods 
away  from  the  old   outlet.     'J'hen,  sweeping  the  eye  around 
eastward,  there  upon  that  bluff  lies  lUiffalo  ;  but  what  a  con- 
trast is  it  to  this  our  Queen  City  of  the  Lakes!     There  in  the 
midst   is    a    little    cluster   of   buildings,  from    the    "  Mansion 
House,"  "  Landon's  tavern"  in   those  days,  to  a  little  above 
Seneca  street;  while  on  either  side,  north  and  south,  there  are 
only  scattering  houses.     On  the   creek  are  the  two  or  three 
warehouses,  the  flat  around  the  "Terrace"  bluff  is  without  resi- 
dences, and  along  "the  Main  street,"  north'*^ard,  only  here  and 
there  a  house  appears.     Down  the  river,  coming  round  again 
"  to  the  place  of  beginning,"  is  Bird  Island  with  its  feathered  in- 
habitants (white  sea  gulls,  the  most  abundant  occupants),  and 
on  the  shore  is  Sandytown  with  its  sand-hills,  one  of  the  ceme- 
teries of  our  faithful  troops,  in  the  war  of  1812.     Then  comes 
the  river  shore  below,  its  beach  the  highway  between  Black 
Rock  and  Buffalo,  and  the  great  "black  rock  "  which  divides 
the  beach  into  two  (the  upper  and  lower)  portions.     Next,  we 
see   "Squaw  Island,"  once  traditionally   the  habitation   of  a 
single,    lonely    "squaw,"  whence  its   name;  and   Strawberry 
Island, — low,  nearly   treeless,    and  scarcely  to  be  seen  ;  and 
Grand    Island,  looming    up  "grand"    indeed  with  its  heavy 


r-i 


36 


THE  PIONEER  STEAM  BO  A  TS 


i 


ill 


forest  of  timber.  The  day  being  pleasant,  from  miles  away, 
in  a  direct  line,  there  are  the  clouds  of  mist  i)lainly  to  be  seen 
rising  from  that  world-wide  wonder,  the  Cataract  of  Niagara. 

But,  long  ago,  no — the  eye  and  the  mind  work  (luickiy, — by 
this  time  the  Buffalonians  must  have  gotten  '^i /ward,"  -And 
the  Excursion,  in  all  the  charm  of  its  novelty,  must  be  in  suc- 
cessful progress.  Yes,  the  bell  has  rung,  the  engine  has  begun 
its  tugging  labors,  and  the  boat  is  speeding  on  its  way  "  to  Point 
Abino  and  return."  Who  that  was  present  that  day,  and  old 
enough  to  write  out  its  experiences  has  ever  penned  them  for 
the  coming  time? — alas!  it  is  to  be  feared,  not  one! 

We  must  return  to  our  talk  of  the  steamboat's  every  day, 
work  day,  life. 

The  fuel  used  in  running  this  first  steamboat  consisted 
wholly  of  bass,  pine,  and  liemlock  wood,  all  s[)lit  fine  and 
well  seasoned.  Hard  wood  would  not  answer;  as  that  which 
would  make  a  more  lively  and  intense  fire  was  needed. 
Bituminous  coal  had  not  made  its  appearance  on  this  frontier 
at  that  time.  And  if  it  had  been  introduced  it  i)robably 
would  not  have  been  used  for  propelling  jjurjjoses  on  the  boat. 
This  wood,  delivered  at  the  dock,  cost  from  $t.2S  to  $1.75 
per  cord.  It  wa.-:  (piiu  an  object  for  our  farmers  to  secure 
the  contracts  for  furnishing  the  wood  for  the  steamboat. 
Many  of  them  had  plenty  of  fuel-timber  for  wliicli  to  find  sale, 
as  they  were  clearing  off  tlieir  farms.  The  inducement,  liow- 
ever,  consisted  chiefly  in  the  price  received  for  chopping  and 
hauling;  the  timber  itself  was  not  considered  of  much  value. 
Sill  &  Co.,  of  Black  Rock,  and  Townsciid  &'  Coit  of  Buffalo, 
were  agents  to  purchase  the  wood  fc  t)ic  "steamboat  Com- 
pany." 

The  Walk-in-the-UHxter  continued  to  run  through  the  sea- 
sons of  1819-20,  and  until  November,  1821,  when  she  was 
wrecked.  But  she  never  entered  Buffalo  harbor,  for  the  very 
good  reas(Mi  that  there  was  no  such  harbor  wliile  she  was 
afloat;  for  she  was   wrecked   before   the  improvements    were 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


37. 


made  which  opened  this  i)ort.  The  boat,  it  will  be  recol- 
lected, started  on  her  first  trip  August  25,  1818,  and  the  adver- 
tisement above  given  was  for  the  15th  of  September  following, 
but  it  held  good  only  for  that  season.  When  she  started  out 
the  next  sjjring,  1819,  from  Black  Rock,  she  was  hailed,  when 
passing  off  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  creek,  from  a  yawl  boat,  by 
passengers,  who  wanted  to  be  taken  on  board.  Tiiey  were 
answered  as  she  went  steadily  on,  with,  "  Geiitieinen,you  must 
distinctly  undeistaiui  the  port  from  which  we  sail  is  Black  Rock." 
So  the  passengers  returned  to  the  little  village  of  JJuffalo,  and 
were  obliged  to  get  accommodations  on  some  sailing  vessel 
lying  at  anchor  in  the  bay;  or  in  the  old  stage-coach  make 
their  way  through  the  mud;  or  else  to  wait  until  the  next  sail- 
ing day  of  the  steamboat,  ten  days  afterwards,  and  then  get 
aboard  from  'V//t'  dock  at  Black  Jiock." 

In  the  seas(.n  of  1819,  our  townsman,  (Captain  Charles  L. 
Gager,  was  employed  on  board  of  the  Walk-in-the-water  as 
sailor  before  the  mast.  Captain  Levi  Allen,  also,  who  has 
been  a  resident  of  this  town  seventy  years  and  ujjwards,  and 
who  is  yet  living  with  us,  was  employed  upon  the  boat  for  one 
or  more  seasons  as  wheelsman,  and  was  aboard  when  she  was 
wrecked. 

She  was  driven  ashore,  in  a  gale,  Nov.  i,  1821,  just  above 
the  old  light-house,  and  nearly  opi)osite  the  foot  o*"  Main 
street.  Having  left  her  dock  at  Black  Rock,  about  four 
o'clock  p.  M.,  with  threatening  weather,  she  had  got  a  few 
miles  above  Bird  Island,  when  a  rising  storm  forced  her 
towards  the  shore,  and  she  came  to  anchor.  About  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  a  heavy  s(]uall  tore  her  loose,  and  she 
was  helplessly  driven  to  the  shore.  However,  no  lives  were 
lost,  or  property,  other  than  the  unwieldy  boat.  She  had 
been  seen  to  be  in  trouble,  from  the  village,  and  watched  till 
midnight,  when  she  had  drifted  so  far  up  the  bay  that  her 
lights  were  hidden  by  the  woods.  'l"he  next  known  of  her 
condition  and  fate  by  those  on  shore,  was  the  news  of  the  dis- 


38 


THE  PIONEER  STEAMBOATS 


aster  brought  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  engineer.  After  the  boat 
struck,  he  jumped  overboard,  waded  to  the  shore,  came  to  tlie 
village,  told  of  the  wreck,  and,  mounting  a  horse,  rode  to 
Black  Rock  to  let  his  wife  know  that  he  was  safe.  The  late 
Gen.  Lucius  Storrs,  who  was  then,  with  his  father-in-law  Capt. 
Benjamin  Caryl,  kee])ing  the  Mansion  House,  went  with 
others  by  boat  across  the  creek,  and  over  to  the  stranded 
steamer,  and  with  Capt.  Rogers,  pilot  Wm.  'i\  Miller  and  the 
crew,  landed  the  passengers  by  means  of  a  boat  guided  by  a 
rope  ("painter,"  in  sailor's  phrase)  stretched  from  the  steamer 
to  the  shore.  The  saved  company  were  taken  to  the  Mansion 
House,  where  they  found  welcome  shelter,  and  abundant  sym- 
pathy and  good  cheer.  '  The  late  Samuel  A.  IJigelow  attended 
to  the  transportation  of  the  cargo  and  furniture,  and  stored 
them  in  the  warehouse  of  which  he  was  part  owner.* 

The  \Valk-in-tlie-7vatfr  was  built  by  cajiitalists  living  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  After  she  was  wrecked  it  was  j)ro- 
posed  to  build  anotiier  steamboat;  and  a  Mr.  Brown  of  New 
York,  agent  of  an  eastern  company,  came  on  to  contract 
for  the  work.  Then  arose  a  strife  between  the  j)eople 
of  Buffalo  and  those  of  Black  Rock,  in  regard  to  the 
question  where  she  should  be  built.  The  ))eople  of  Black 
Rock  claimed  that  to  be  the  right  jilace  in  preference  to 
Buffalo,  as  the  latter  place  had  no  harbor,  there  not  being 
five  feet  of  water  on  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek; 
and  they  said  that  if  she  was  built  in  Buffalo  creek  she 
would    rot  down   before  she  would   ever  float  on  Lake  Erie. 


♦Note. — The  mention  here  nf  this  warehouse  gives  an  opportunity  for  modifying  para- 
graph  second  on  page  twenty-seven,  ahcnit  the  warehouses  on  Kunalu  Creek  in  1818,  since 
the  printing  of  which  some  questions  have  arisen,  reipiiring  further  invesiigalion,  and 
comparison  of  authorities.  To  avoid  these,  the  paragraph  referred  to  should  he  cancelled, 
and  in  its  place  the  author's  own  original  statement  he  read,  as  follows:  "  There  were, 
I  thinks  al  this  time  only  two  or  thrfe  llai  ehi'iise.i  on  lUiffahi  Creek." 

Particular  mention  of  names  in  this  connection  is  liable  to  awaken  discussion,  and  is  no' 
necessary  for  the  purpose  of  this  paper. 

At  the  time  of  the  wreck  of  the  lyiitk-in-tlie-ivater^  at  least  two  other  warehouses  had 
been  added. 

'I'he  particulars  in  the  text  concerning  the  final  trip  nf  the  li'iilk-hi-the-iviiter,  are 
are  inserted,  as  received  directly  from  the  statements  of  the  late  Gen.  I,.  Storrs  and  Samuel 
A.  Bigelow,  and  our  venerable  townsman,  Capt.  Levi  Allen.  A.  B. 


ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


39 


The  controversy  was  sharp,  and  competition  was  high 
between  the  contending  villagers.  As  an  inducement  to  the 
Steamboat  Company  both  parties  agreed  to  furnish  all  the 
limber  that  would  be  required  to  build  the  new  boat,  at  an 
exceedingly  low  price.  Notwithstanding  all  the  adverse  rep- 
resentations and  discouraging  endeavors  of  the  citizens  of 
Black  Rock,  Huffalo  prevailed.  So,  on  condition  that  the 
new  boat  should  be  built  here,  contracts  were  entered  into  by 
Buffalonians  to  furnish  all  the  timber  needed  at  the  low  price 
already  promised;  and  they  also  gave  their  bonds  for  a  large 
amount  to  ihe  company,  on  the  condition  that  the  channel  of 
Buffalo  creek  should  be  deepened  by  a  certain  time,  so  that 
the  new  boat,  when  built,  could  float  out  into  the  lake,  or  they 
should  be  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  each  day  it 
was  detained.* 

The  deepening  of  the  channel  was  accomplished  within  the 
time  required,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  inhabitants  of  Buffalo. 
I  have  not  space  within  my  proposed  limits  to  give  an  account 
of  this  great  undertaking.  How  |)iles  were  driven  by  means 
of  a  "driver,"  extemporized  from  an  old  mortar,  how  the 
channel  was  dredged  out  by  a  scrai)er,  made  of  a  log  sawed  in 
half  endwise,  armed  at  the  edge  thus  left  with  long  saw-blades, 
floated  into  place  on  a  scow  and  drojjped,  and  dragged  out  by 
oxen,  these  and  many  like  things  may  not  now  be  described. 
But  it  is  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  |)eople  of  that  day,  and  above 
all,  to  the  memory  of  their  leader  in  this  as  in  so  many  of  the 
"good  works"  that  have  created  Buffalo  city,  Judge  Samuel 
Wilkeson,  to  say  that  for  an  example  of  displays  of  energy, 
ingenuity,  and  persevering  sacrifice  in  a  good  cause,  this 
affair  may  be  set  down  as  among  the  foremost.  And  so  the 
second  steamboat,  built  to  navigate  these  lakes,  was  con- 
structed on  the  north  bank  of  Buffalo  creek  at  the  foot  of 
Washington  street.  She  was  called  the  Superior,  and  was  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  tons  burthen.  She  was  built  in  the 
winter  of  182 1-2,  and  launched  on  the  i6th  of  April  following. 


4° 


THE  PIONEER  STEAM  BOA  TS 


An  incident  or  two  concerning  the  launching  will  be  here  in 
place:  There  was  living  in  our  village  at  the  time  a  rather  no- 
table mulatto  man,  who  was  called  "  Whistling  Tom" — what 
his  true  name  was  I  never  knew.  He  was  tall,  and  of  fine  figure 
and  features  ;  the  la^t  partook  more  of  white  than  of  col- 
ored blood,  and  he  was  a  (  haracter  by  himself.  He  was  noted 
for  his  great  power  in  and  fondness  for  whistling.  He  was 
not  only  a  great  whistler,  but  could  imitate  the  sound  and 
notes  of  instruments  of  music,  such  as  the  bugle,  clarinet,  etc. 
The  steamboat  was  launched  side  foremost.  Quite  a  number 
of  men  were  permitted  to  climb  aboard  before  she  slid  off  her 
ways.  Many  hundreds  assembled  to  see  her  launched.  When  all 
things  were  ready,  word  was  given,  and  then  commenced  the  rat- 
tling of  the  sledges  of  the  ship-carpenters  who  lay  under  the  boat 
knocking  out  the  blocks  that  held  her  from  the  greasy  ways  on 
which  she  was  to  slide  into  the  water.  I'retty  soon  she  started. 
Not  a  word  was  s])oken;  each  one  seemed  to  hold  his  breath, 
when,  just  at  the  light  moment,  "Whistling  Tom"  gave  a 
shrill  peal  like  a  bugle  note  in  his  most  artistic  style,  which 
seemed  to  electrify  all  present.  'I'he  moment  he  had  finished 
the  strain,  there  went  uj)  from  the  multitude  a  shout  that  made 
the  welkin  ring.  Within  the  next  minute  there  were  several 
skiffs  manned  and  with  pikes  and  boat-hooks  men  went  to 
work  saving  the  floating  timber  tiuit  was  carried  into  the  water 
by  the  launched  boat. 

In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  of  the  multitude,  there  came 
a  cry  from  the  launched  boat  that  needed  immediate  attention. 
It  was  that  a  man  had  got  his  leg  broken.  Doctor  Congdon, 
who  was  quite  a  corpulent  man,  bustled  round  for  some  time, 
not  having  the  agility  to  climb  up  on  board  from  a  small 
boat  and  make  sure  of  the  job  of  setting  and  s()linting  the 
broken  limb.  Hut  finally  he  succeeded  in  getting  aboard, 
and  managing  the  case,  which  was  a  rare  and  tempting  one; 
for  a  broken  leg  was  not  a  very  common  occurrence  in  our 
village.      Tlie  accident  had  been  caused  by  the  lurch   of  the 


Oy  LAKE  ERIE. 


41 


boat  when  her  keel  struck  the  water,  which  threw  her  over  on 
lier  beams'  ends. 

There  were  some  smeared  trowsers  that  day  among  the  boys 
and  younjfsters,  caused  by  llieir  climbing  over  the  greasy  ways  of 
the  boat.  Among  those  present  from  the  country  town*  were  a 
certain  girl,  young  lady  we  should  say,  and  her  beau.  They  were 
used  to  crossing  logs  and  fences,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
shorten  the  disian«  e  to  a  favorable  jiosition  l)v  crossing  those 
slippery  ways.  Hut  the  girl  for  once  failed,  and  came  d(nvn 
plump,  and  was  sliding  on  towards  the  water,  when  she  was 
gallantly  saved  from  being  fully  launched  into  it  by  the  timely 
assistance  of  he  attendent  beau. 

It  may  well  be  believed  that  the  launching  of  the  Wolk-in- 
tlie-water  sixty-six  years  ago,  and  of  the  Superior  hfty-nine 
years  ago  next  April,  were  notable  occurrences  for  young 
Buffalo  Village,  and  even  trivial  incidents  recalled  concerning 
theiM,  may  have  interest  on  this  account. 

After  receiving  her  boiler,  which  had  been  brought  across 
the  i)eninsu]a  from  the  \vre(  k  of  the  ]\\uk-iii-IIif-U'ater,  and 
being  finished  off  ready  for  sailing,  the  Superior  was  lloated 
out  of  IJuffalo  creek  and  taken  to  the  dock  at  lUack  Rock, 
and  there  uKule  ready  for  her  tlrst  trip. 

Some  liuffalonians,  yet  li\  ing  in  our  city,  must  remember 
the  streak  of  woods  cut  out  from  the  lake  beach  where  the 
Walk  iihtlie-water  was  wrecked,  through  which,  on  rollers, 
the  boiler  of  the  wrecked  boat  was  moved  across  the  penin- 
sula to  the  creek  for  the  purpose  of  putting  it  into  the  new 
boat. 

The  Superior  left  Black  Rock  for  Detroit  on  her  first  trip, 
April  25,  1822.  She  made  two  or  three  trips  to  Detroit,  and 
back  to  Iilack  Rock,  without  coming  into  15uffalf)  harbor. 
Her  first  entrance  into  our  harbor  was  on  or  about  the  first 
day  of  June,  1822,  the  same  season,  and  ever  after  she  made 
Buffalo  her  stoi)ping  place. 


I 


4a 


THE  PIONEER  STEAMBOATS 


m 


From  this  time  forward  Buffalo  began  to  assume  a  superior- 
ity over  Black  Rock  in  a  commert:ial  and  business  point  of 
view.  'I"he  deepening  of  the  channel  of  the  creek,  so  that 
vessels  of  all  kinds  could  enter  our  harbor,  and  the  locating 
here  of  the  terminus  of  the  Erie  Canal  at  about  this  time  (as 
published  in  the  Canal  Board  Report  in  1823),  seemed  to  settle 
the  controversy  between  the  two  rival  villages,  and  Buffalo 
began  to  be  regarded  as  a  i)lace  of  some  considerable  im])ort- 
ance.  Very  soon,  some  of  the  merchants  and  other  business 
men  who  had  been  doing  business  for  years  at  Black  Rock, 
expecting  that  to  be  the  great  city,  left  that  ])lace  and  came  to 
Buffalo.  And  yet,  at  that  time  during  gales  of  wind  down  the 
lake,  or  in  very  dark  nights,  vessels  would  frequently,  as  they 
do  now,  run  down  tiie  river  and  come  to  anchor,  not  ventur- 
ing to  try  to  enter  Buffalo  harbor,  the  channel  being  so 
narrow.  The  steamboat  would  frequently  run  down  also,  and 
lie  by  tlie  dock  for  safety,  and  Captain  Thompson  would 
then  have  to  apply  his  "horned  breeze"  to  help  her  up  the 
rai)ids  again. 

In  the  fall  of  1875,  little  more  than  fifty-three  years  after  the 
Superior  came  out,  on  a  visit  to  some  of  my  friends  in  Mans- 
field, Ohio,  I  met  with  an  aged  lady,  who  related  to  me  an  inci- 
dent of  her  journey  from  one  of  the  New  England  states  to 
that  i)lace.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1822.  She  said  she  was 
then  twenty-two  years  of  age.  She,  with  others,  took  i)as- 
sage  at  Buffalo  on  the  steamboat  Superior  and  were  landed 
at  Huron,  Ohio.  The  boat  hove  to,  off  shore,  and  the  yawl 
was  lowered  and  manned,  to  take  the  passengers  ashore.  The 
wind  was  pretty  strong,  and  a  high  sea  was  rolling.  'I'he 
(Captain  (Rogers)  thought  there  was  some  danger  in  landing, 
and  therefore  accompanied  them  to  the  shore.  There  being 
no  dock  they  were  obliged  to  land  through  the  surf,  which  was 
running  very  high.  When  the  row-boat  struck  the  beach  one 
of  the  sailors  got  out  into  the  water,  this  young  lady  mounted 
on  his  back,  her  arms  around  his  neck,  and  he  then  carried  her 


O.V  LAKE  ERIE. 


43 


"  high  and  dry  "  through  the  surf  to  the  shore.     In  the  same 
way  all  the  j)assengers  were  safely  landed. 

This  good  old  lady,  when  she  related  this  to  me,  was  a 
widow,  seventy-five  years  of  age.  \n  reviewing  those  early 
scenes  of  her  girlhood  she  said  she  wished  that  she  could 
know  if  that  sailor  were  still  living,  adding  that  she  would  like 
to  knit  a  nice,  warm  comforter  and  send  him. 

CONCLUSION. 

But  it  is  time  to  conclude  these  reminiscences.  I  planned 
to  write  only  concerning  the  t7ci0  pioneer  steamboats  which 
have  been  already  described.  I  shall  not  go  into  a  general 
history  of  our  s.team])oats,  or  steamboating  on  our  lakes.  That 
should  be  written  by  some  of  our  practical  sailors,  who  have 
spent  the  most  of  their  lives  on  our  inland  lakes  and  rivers. 
But  I  will  say,  there  have  been  many  improvements  made  to 
increase  their  speed,  and  also  very  many  for  tiie  convenience 
and  comfort  of  travelers.  The  earlier  boats  were  all  built  with 
their  cabins  below  deck.  They  did  not  have  what  is  now 
called  the  ui)per-deck  cabin.  It  was  thought  to  be  doubtful 
whether  such  cabins  would  stand  the  storms  and  gales  of  our 
lakes,  and  it  was  not  until  about  twenty  years  after  the  first 
steamboat  was  built,  that  what  is  called  the  up])er-deck  cabin 
was  ventured  upon.  Captain  Walker  tried  the  xperiment, 
and  put  the  first  "  upper  cabin  "  upon  the  steamboat  Great 
JVesteni  in  1838.  The  size  of  the  steamboats  continued  to 
increase,  as  well  as  the  luxurious  furnishing  of  tliem,  until  they 
became  literally  "  floating  palaces."  And  later,  those  old-fash- 
ioned side-wheel  steamboats  have  been  almost  entirely  super- 
seded by  the  craft  usually  termed  the  proi)eller.  Indeed, 
such  is  the  "  march  of  im])rovement,"  that  steamboats, — side- 
wheel  and  propeller,  lower  cabin  and  upjjcr  cabin, — with  sail 
vessels  of  all  kinds,  yes,  canal  boats  and  all  waterway  craft, 
though  very  far  from  being  "  things  of  the  i)ast,"  have  come 
to  occupy    only  the  place    of    helpers    to    the   great    system 


■•i9f" 


9f 


44 


Till:  no 


STEAM  BOA  IS  OX  I. A  IE  ERIE. 


t 


of  land cani;!'  (lu;  Railroad  has  intiodimd.      So  that  all 

rcniiniscfM'  .(x-rning    water    transportation,    whc'licr    of 

pL'isons  cnj.^  .  in  it.  or  methods  ot"  accomplishing  it,  may  be 
already  reckoned  as  relating  to  what  has  "had  its  day,"  ex- 
cept as  something  subordinate  and  sui)plementary. 

To  i-ontribute.  in  some  degree,  towards  furnishing  material 
for  a  complete  history  of  that  once  k-ading,  and  evtn  yet 
great  though  minor,  element  in  our  progress,  our  Lake  Com- 
merce, this  paper  has  been  written,  and  is  now  presented  to 
the  reader. 


V. 


